Patients Can Now Say What They Think About The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre At A Touch Of A Button, England

Main Category: IT / Internet / E-mail
Also Included In: Bones / Orthopaedics
Article Date: 26 Nov 2008 - 5:00 PST

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The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre (NOC) in Headington has introduced the 'Patient Experience Tracker' system where both patients and visitors can comment on their experiences at the hospital via an electronic keypad.

Image of patient using the system.

Twenty terminals have been set up around the hospital, each one presenting five questions with a scale of five possible answers from 'poor' to 'excellent'.

Some of the terminals have been placed in public areas such as the hospital restaurant and League of Friends shop, while others are available on the wards for patients to record their views prior to discharge.

The data is collated daily and reports are produced and fed back to the ward managers who can see at-a-glance areas of satisfaction or where there is a need for improvement. Staff are able to monitor more closely standards of service to ensure departments can take action in a timely manner.

Kathy Wilshaw, Patient Advice and Liaison Service Manager, said: "We listen and learn from our patients in many ways but these electronic keypads provide more speedy results than traditional paper questionnaires and customer satisfaction forms. It will help us to ensure that everybody's experience of the hospital is a positive one."

Graphical reports are produced on a weekly basis and posters will display results to both staff and patients around the hospital. For example, recent data from the terminal in the restaurant show high scores on customer service but visitors have highlighted lack of seating. Following this feedback the hospital is now looking at how it can address this issue.

The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre
http://www.noc.nhs.uk